_ Checkpoint #1 For my assignment I've decided to research "Lanval" by Marie de France. Lanval was among my favorite texts when I took British Literature I my sophomore year. I loved Marie de France's work the most so I thought it would be the appropriate choice. I reread it recently and I still enjoy it so I can't wait to work with it throughout the semester! Schedule Calendar My goal is to work on research twice a week for half an hour after class, on Mondays and Wednesday sometime between 12:30-2pm. That doesn't mean I won't be working on it during my free time and the weekend as well, but I want to make sure I get in a minimum of 1 hour a week of searching for resources. During that time one week, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I also want to go to a librarian to help seek sources as well to get that part of the checkpoint complete as well. I will keep a schedule of progress made to motivate myself to continue working on steps. Checkpoint #2 Progress 9/24: Printed out 4 journal articles and wrote down 6 I want access too that are not available in the library. Will try to get access when meeting with a librarian. Also decided on various topics I'm interested in related to the text, including courtly love, homosexuality,and of course, feminism and the power of females. Plan is to start reading and highlighting articles soon. Can't wait to start planning meetings with the group as well! 9/25: Figured out how to use the ILLiad after over THREE YEARS in college. Use this people. Literally the easiest thing ever. I honestly thought you'd have to wait several days and could only read the article as a hard copy in the library so I never used it. But literally all you have to do if go to the get article page and submit a request to ILLiad once you get an account. Over a dozen to choose from for me rather than the two on MLA Bibliography that were available. Once you send a request you will likely get a digital copy of the article that same day. To look at whenever you want on your account! Group talks with the librarian made a HUGE difference from the class talks. I hate that I didn't know this sooner. Would have saved me hours of searching. I don't even know what to ask the librarian when I visit with the library form because I have 4 articles printed, 2 more I haven't printed yet, and 10 on my ILLiad account now! 10/6: It's been very busy lately so I've been behind in work but I made it my goal to do as much as I can today! Completed the summary, started doing the analysis on quotations from the text, and talked to the research librarian and got the form signed. Looked at some books in the library as well (though I didn't find them to be very useful). Might just focus on journal articles online. Also figured out how to use RefWorks to organize the journals I find if I don't want to print them automatically. 10/7: Worked a little more on the quotes today with the little time I had. I have all the quotes at least selected now which means I'm making progress. By tomorrow between classes I hope to begin working on the annotations for the journal articles. 10/8: Finished all the quotes! Getting closer to completion! 3 article annotations to go! 10/10: I finally went through four journals I printed and highlighted what I was most intrigued by. One of them wasn't as interesting as I expected and really didn't illuminate the topics I am looking at so I abandoned that. But I have three more to do this checkpoint. I haven't annotated them yet, but I already know basically what I want to talk about. I'm actually really glad that I did the quotes before I looked at the articles. Two of the articles really spoke to the first two quotations and answered a lot of questions I had in my analysis, especially considering the power of the fairy, the charge of sodomy/homosexuality, and women as "goods". So I know I choose the right articles! They even challenged my views at some instances and changed my thinking. I also feel I'm slowly deciding what I want the final product of this assignment to be. I've already laid out several subtopics I want to use, though I don't have a clear thesis yet. But it's related to feminism though it may challenge some of the typical viewpoints of the feminist discourse! Oh, and Fitchburg State's internet was down so I had to make this post three times! Using Microsoft Word first from now on! 10/13: Finally got back to working on the assignment and finished my annotations and citations. Big mistake doing this several days after I originally read the articles, but all the highlights and margin annotations did help me reorganize my thinking. Feels nice to be done. Also made a discussion for my online group meeting with the Knights of the Round Table. Hopefully we have the opportunity to discuss our findings during our official online meeting tomorrow! Completed Work Text Citation France, Marie de. Lanval. The Lais of Marie de France. Trans. Glynn S. Burgess and Keith Busby. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2003. Print. Summary Lanval by Marie de France tells the story of an under-appreciated knight of King Arthur. The knight, named Lanval, although of noble birth and the son of a king, is far from inheriting anything and is somewhat forgotten by the king. He has great qualities and many envy him, and are thus glad he isn't treated well. One day leaving the town he takes a walk into a meadow where he sees two beautiful women. Leaving his horse behind, he follows them to tent where there is a beautiful woman. The woman confessed her love for Lanval. She offers her love, a place to stay, food, clothing, and unlimited amounts of money. When he promises to do whatever she asks, they make love. All he has to do is tell no one about her and their love or he will lose her forever. Lanval becomes generous and starts giving gifts out to many, pardoning prisoners, and helping others in multiple ways. He also visits his lover whenever he pleases. That same year, a group of knights are hanging out in a garden and one of them persuades the others that they need to invite Lanval and they do this. The Queen, Arthur's wife, is present, sees Lanval, and decides to approach him. She tries seducing him but he rejects her. She angrily accuses him of being gay. Lanval responds by insulting her and telling her his love's servants are more beautiful than her in every single way. The queen flees upset and plans to get revenge. The queen complains to the King and tells him of the insult. The King swears that if Lanval cannot defend himself in court, he will be burned and hanged. Lanval is meanwhile devastated because he can no longer call on his beloved because he mentioned her to the queen. When the court date comes, the court decides that if his beloved comes forward and proves his statements were true, he would be acquitted. Otherwise, he would be banished. Lanval is certain she would not show. Much to everyone's surprise, two maidens approach. But Lanval does not know either of them. They request a room be prepared for their lady who is to arrive. At last, his beloved arrives on a white horse and she is more beautiful than anyone in the world. Her beauty is described in detail. Lanval is overjoyed and announces he doesn't care if they kill him now that he is able to see her again. She requests that he be released and he is acquitted. The lady and Lanval ride away to Avalon and are never seen again. Quotes and Analysis 1. ""I well believe that you do not like this kind of pleasure. I have been told often enough that you have no desire for women. You have well-trained young men and enjoy yourself with them. Base coward, wicked recreant, my lord is extremely unfortunate to have suffered you near him. I think he may have lost his salvation because of it!"" (France 76). In this quote the queen is addressing Lanval and charging him with being a homosexual because he has rejected her advances. This occurs right before Lanval tells the queen off and reveals that he has a lover. One of the questions that may be asked is what the implications of sexuality are during this time period. It's clear that showing interest in the same sex is something that the Queen believe Lanval should be ashamed of. Although I'm not clear with what it means during this time period and if it's punishable, that is something I wish to look at, possibly in some of the journals that I read. She does mention though that even being near Lanval if he were gay would cause the king to lose his "salvation", meaning he would not be able to redeem himself on judgment day for his sins. This tell us that religion is a factor in the belief that homosexuality is a sin and not only does it "tarnish" the individual, but those around them as well. Which makes this particular accusation harmful because she is questioning Lanval's devotion to God and his religion as well, which gives him more reason to be upset and feel the need to insult her. Lanval's reaction to this comment therefore should come as no surprise and he likely had no choice but to reveal his lover, though it was dangerous for him to do so. 2. "When the girl heard these words from the man who loved her so, she granted him her love and her body. Now Lanval was on the right path! She gave him a boon, that henceforth he could wish for nothing which he would not have, and however generously he gave or spent, she would still find enough for him. Lanval was very well lodged, for the more he spent, the more gold and silver he would have." (France 74-75). In this quote it appears that Lanval is really being spoiled with love and wealth. There is an obvious magical element which is implied by the fact that the wealth he receives from this lady is unlimited and increasing every time he spends. She is not human. There are two ways that this quote can be read when considering how the lady is viewed compared to the man. She seems to be the one who is calling the shots. She initiates the relationship between them, and gives all the rewards if he returns the love,and she gives him all the conditions and consequences if he fails to abide her requests. He has to follow her rules if he wants to keep her and all that she offers him. However, in this quote her love and her body are granted to him the same way the wealth is also granted to him. Her love and body are pretty much "goods" and "pleasures" that she gives to Lanval. Therefore she appears more like an object rather than an actual being.This quote also discusses the idea of love at first sight. At their first meeting they have already decided that they love each other. It's unclear why the lady chooses Lanval and falls for him so quickly, but he is likely more interested in her wealth and appearance than anything else. We may even wonder if the wealth is possibly all that attracts him. 3. "King, I have loved one of your vassals, Lanval, whom you see there. Because of what he said, he was accused in your court, and I do not wish him to come to any harm. You should know that the queen is wrong, as he never sought her love. As regards the boast he made, if he can be acquitted by me, let your barons release him!" (France 81) In this quote the woman who is Lanval's beloved, still unnamed, is the one who ends up saving the day. Often in stories about knights or other heroes it's always the male protagonist that saves the damsel in distress. It reminds me of the Prince in Snow White, who is sometimes unnamed, rides in on a horse, and rescues her. In this story, the "knight in shining armor" is female and she saves Lanval mainly using her appearance and one short statement. In this statement she even accuses the queen of being wrong about Lanval and essentially lying. She gets away with this because of her beauty. I wonder if magical beings also have a higher rank than even royalty because they are likely more powerful. It is clear from this quote that the woman forgives Lanval. However, this leaves a lot of questions unanswered to think about. For example, why was their relationship a secret at all? It seemed important that he didn't reveal their relationship because she told him he would never see her again if he did. If it was so important, then why was it forgiven? Also, was Lanval's reveal justified because of the accusations the queen made? These questions always stump me when I read this story and I feel that there's a lot left unsaid! Annotated Bibliography 1. Finke, Laurie A. "Magical Mistress Tour: Patronage, Intellectual Property, and the Dissemination of Wealth in the "Lais" of Marie De France." Signs 25.2 (2000): 479-503. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. This article was written by Laurie A. Finke, a professor of Kenyon College and a director of Women’s a Gender Studies and Martin B. Shichtman, professor of Eastern Michigan University and a director of Jewish Studies. Laurie A. Finke has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and her B. A. from Lake Forest College. She has also published seven books. Martin B. Shichtman earned his Ph.D at the University of Iowa and has written many books on the medieval period. Based on the content, the article seems to be directed towards Feminist, Gender, Marxist, and Queer Studies readers, as well as Medievalists. It illuminates the topics of women in “Lanval” heavily because it discusses how the women in the story, particularly the fairy, can be considered to have more power than the man. It critiques beliefs of the feminist discourse when evaluating the objectification of women in the text. Through the idea of patronage, the article discusses how wealth determines power in the society. It also discusses views on sodomy and homosexuality in the text and how knights were often accused of these activities and how a patronage relationship between males (the exchange of gifts) connects to this idea. This article can be used for a variety of focuses and themes for this reason. It deals with a multitude of related topics. 2. Jurasinski, Stefan. "Treason And The Charge Of Sodomy In The Lai De Lanval." Romance Quarterly 54.4 (2007): 290-302. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. This article was written by Stephan Jurasinski, an associate professor at Brockport State University of New York. He graduated with a Ph.D. and M.A. at Indiana University and a B.A. at the University of Maryland. Some of his teaching includes Old and Middle English, Old Icelandic, Old French, Medieval Canon Law, Medieval Secular Law, and Linguistics and Philology. He has also written several books and many articles on these topics . The audience for this piece would be those interested in Queer and Gender studies, Historic Laws, and Medievalists. The article focuses on the laws and ruling of the charge of sodomy, what it means for Lanval, and how it may have been considered treason (the act of sodomy in the medieval society). It also discusses how the queen in the story may have used the accusation to defend herself from a similar charge of treason. It also illuminates the discussion with details on how the proximity of those guilty with others can spread the sin, answering why the Queen believes the King will be punished for Lanval’s sins. This was a believable argument because it looks at medieval laws to explain the actions of the characters and consider the significance of the charge. 3. Woods, William P. "Femininity in the Lais of Marie de France." Studies in Philology 47.1 (1950): 1-19. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2014. This article is by William S. Woods. The article was written in 1950, so the views can possibly be a little dated for that reason. However, it brings up some interesting points that are still relevant and other points that can be argued. This article would be of interest for those interested in feminism and of course, medieval literature. He talks about all of Marie's writings, not just “Lanval”, though he cites that story directly a few times. He discusses how Marie being a female during this time period impacts the way that she writes. His focus seems to be on how France writes with special attention of details that interest women, such as clothing and beauty, material things, surroundings, and details that are useless to the plot. She also lacks any description of battle. This article can be used to consider the how the writer being a female influences how the work is written and if it can offer meaning to the position of females during the time period. This article can also be used to describe how the feminist discourse has changed over time and how meaning in Marie’s writing can be viewed differently from what the writer of this article had analyzed, especially since the feminist discourse has great changed. I still can find this argument useful because it can be used to compare former evaluations to the text and how visions have changed with the growing feminist literary movements. Checkpoint #3 Progress 10/20:So it's another day of working on the project and the beginning of a new checkpoint. Today is devoted to choosing the articles and printing them out. Luckily I have all my selected articles on Illaid or RefWorks so I don't have to search so much! Just have to read through some and pick the ones I like! I have cited the three I've chosen, and one of them appears to be a reply/response to another article that I also found! So I can use that as the source I found referenced in another article. On Wednesday I will probably start reading the articles and doing the annotations. 10/30: I'm finding that I hardly have any time to complete homework but I will definitely make an effort for the annotations today! Seems like I'll be spending this weekend finishing up at well! I'm also struggling finding information on some of the writers. I'm wondering if that could mean that they are not credible! 11/3: Struggling through the annotations today. I've been way behind in homework this week! But I will try to finish all the annotations today so I can start what remains as soon as possible! Worked on both the reflection and the query as well! 11/4: Managed to get everything done. Took a lot longer than I expected. Talking to the group later today about the progress. Now if I can only get the formatting right! Completed Work Annotations 1. Eccles, Jacqueline. "Feminist Criticism And The Lay Of Lanval: A Reply." Romance Notes 38.3 (1998): 281-285. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. This article is written by Jacqueline Eccles who is affiliated with the University of Liverpool. This article seems to be aimed at feminists, medievalists, those interested in romances, those interested in gender studies, and those who are interested in the feminist discourse who don’t always agree with it. Though fairly short, this article offers many points related to feminist criticisms and looks at both the males and the female of the texts. It starts by challenging the use of modern feminism to 12th century writing and stating that France may not be a feminist writer in the modern sense but that she was well aware of the influence her writing may have. The article also makes the point to look at both males and females in the text. It offers a view that I never considered before, that the story may in fact be sexist in favor of women. The idea that feminism can sometimes be one sided and men can be demonized and weakened is recent and can be a new way to look at the text. The writer of the article however argues against this perspective, stating that though men are weak characters, women are not always viewed positively in the piece, primarily the queen for example. Therefore there is a balance between males and females and the criticism lies of the flaws of the society rather than the sexes. The article recognizes some similar points as other articles I've looked at concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the women, but it also offers a lot more evidence and insight not covered in other articles and therefore would make it very useful in both supporting points of other scholars and offering new points to illuminate the topic further. 2. Kinoshita, Sharon. "'Cherchez La Femme': Feminist Criticism And Marie De France's Lai De Lanval." Romance Notes 34.3 (1994): 263-273. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Sharon Kinoshita is a professor at UC Santa Cruz . She teaches World Literature and Cultural Studies. She has written many books and articles, including on the subject of medieval French literature. The audience that would be interested in this article would likely be those studying feminism, gender studies, and medievalists. This article was cited in in Jacqueline Eccles's article. Eccles made comments on Kinoshita's points and comments on feminist criticism and its role in the text. Particularly she argues with Kinoshita and accuses her of misreading the king's actions. She also cites Eccles's point about women being objects of exchange in the feudal bonds and argues that the text may serve to criticize that feudal system which allows that, which would explain why Lanval's abandonment of the King at the end is significant. However, they both reach the same conclusion that the fairy woman tempts Lanval away from that feudal society that considers women as objects of exchange. In her article she criticizes the views of Woods and his stereotypical views in an article I’ve also looked at, but also acknowledges how literary analysis has vastly changed since the time his article was written. Kinoshita can illuminate the feminist topic in several ways. She talks about how “Lanval” is like an inverted Cinderella story where the fairy woman is the knight in shining armor while the male protagonist, who is the actual knight, plays a more passive and subordinate role in the text. Her views on the escape from the feudal society being an important topic to consider in the writing as mentioned before, is another useful factor that can be considered in a feminist reading. 3.Ramke, Kelly. "Re-Writing Agency: The Masculinization Of Marie De France's Lai De Lanval In Two Middle English 'Translations'." Mediaevalia: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Medieval Studies Worldwide 26.2 (2005): 221-241. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. Kelly Ramke holds a master’s degree in French Literature from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts in French from The University of the South. One of her main focuses is medieval studies. This article is intended for feminists, those interested in gender studies, and medievalists. Ramke argues that that in a couple of the later translations of the text, both translated by men, Lanval becomes the hero of the text while in Marie’s original work, the fairy woman is the hero. She uses several bits of evidence to prove this point. For example, the translations focus more on the fairy woman’s appearance. There is more emphasis on her nudity as well, which suggests a focus on the male fantasy. The fairy recognizes Lanval’s poverty and seems to be more concerned about improving his position rather than fulfilling her own needs in the translation as well. Also in the translation there is a bigger focus on the gifts, and a lesser focus on the conditions of their relationship, which becomes secondary based on the fact it’s not addressed until after they have made love. Women have more direct speech in the original than the translation. The author believes this determines who the hero is, since the hero should be the one dominating the direct speeches. In the end, the male gaze of the women is more important in the translations because it determines how the women are perceived. She also offers the background of Marie and cites her prologue, where Marie herself says she wants to prove that women can be strong writers as well. This article is useful because it compares the original to male translation, which can highlight how Marie gave strength to her female characters. It can also be used to counter claims of Woods who believed that Marie’s writing was too “womanly” because of her descriptions of the clothing since we see here that the male translators focused even more on clothing and appearance than Marie did herself. Knowing Marie’s views of her own writing is also significant because this tells us her probable intentions in writing Lanval and that she may have sought to increase the agency and position of women through her writing. Reflection Based on the research that I have done so far, I am finding several trends in the analysis of “Lanval”. Many writers I‘ve read are concerned with the female characters and their role in the text. Most agree that the fairy woman and even the queen are portrayed in a way that shows that they can have agency over the men, including over the main protagonist of the text (Lanval). There have been a few arguments on the idea that women are the objects of exchange under the feudal society in the text and that it might be one way the women are marginalized. But the evidence that the exit from the feudal society suggests that the purpose of the story may have been to criticize the society that oppresses women. Another focus of these conversations between scholars seems to be on the inverting of gender roles in the text and whether this makes it sexist in the sense that women are favored, the same way men are favored in a patriarchal society. The change in audience is another concern of critics, because modern views of feminism are being used to explain Marie’s purpose in her 12th century text. Scholars are concerned with how views have changed over time and how the text may have different meanings for us today than it did in the 12th century. Although it doesn’t mean that modern interpretations are any less relevant because many do take history, medieval law, and beliefs into account for their analysis. Though the scholars address different moments in the story and offers separate points of evidence from the text and history of the text, most seem to agree that the women in the text are not objectified, actually have powerful positions, and seek to meet their own needs; while the men are feminized and take the role typically applied to females. Query The articles I’ve read so far have really changed my views of the text in many ways and there are several questions I seek to answer after reading the different arguments between scholars. I want to know how 12th century readers responded to Marie’s texts because it appears she wanted her writing to make an impact. I also want to know what is the fairy woman’s purpose and intention in the text. I want to know whether her actions were mostly for herself for if her purpose to “save” Lanval because she has a lot to offer to him and she didn’t have to promise him much to win him over. Her beauty and attraction would have probably been enough. Also, he betrayed her wishes and conditions but she still came back for him. I also wonder why she had that condition that no one could know about their love (if it dealt with "courtly love", why were those rules so important to her?). Scholars explore the gender roles and I question why it was necessary for the roles to be reversed, especially since some scholars believe that it wasn’t for the purpose of de-masculinizing men while favoring the women. The role of the Queen is also something to ponder also because although she is powerful, she is considered to be manipulative and cruel and I wonder why Marie de France had a woman as one of the main antagonists in the story and whether it really was to put men and women on equal ground as suggested by many scholars. Checkpoint #4 Progress 11/12: Found the articles and cited them today. I had a lot of trouble finding articles I liked. There wasn't a lot that I was interested in and wanted to talk about. Some of them spent a lot of time summarizing which was a little annoying! Hopefully the ones I finally decided on will prove to be useful. Mainly concerned with translations. I should read one of the other translations early because I haven't yet! I also haven't chosen what to argue with yet. Maybe Woods, but I feel everyone disagrees with him! I agree with most of the articles I read! 11/20: It was incredibly difficult for me to find any more articles that I was interested it or had anything to do with the topic I wanted to research. I must have read a billion of them and desperately searched Google Scholar and Google searches to access articles I wanted to read but couldn't find for free! I did manage to find the remaining articles and annotate them! I'm not sure I will be able to use either of them in my argument, but it's possible and both were interesting articles. I'm glad I found the one about the names because I was actually wondering recently about why the fairy maiden was never named! 11/21: I finally did the argument and abstract. I decided to use Woods' article to argue with because I had a lot I could say about it. Plus he's probably dead by now and can't counter my argument! Still a little iffy on the abstract and may make changes later but it's what I have so far! Completed Work Annotations 1. Whitfield, Pam. "Power Plays: Relationships In Marie De France's Lanval And Eliduc." Medieval Perspectives 14.(1999): 242-254. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. This article is by Pam Whitfield as part of a Master’s Thesis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The audience this article seems to be intended for is the Feminists and Medievalists. Like previous articles that I have analyzed the writer believes that Marie seeks to empower women in the text and aims to inspire a female audience. She talks about both “Lanval” and “Eliduc”, another work of Marie’s. One highlight I had not considered before was the number of female characters. Usually there are significantly more males in a text and only a limited amount of females but it appears that though the primary characters are limited, they are more or less equal; with Lanval, the maiden, the queen, and King Arthur as the main roles. The balance between male and female is another way this text may appeal to the feminist discourse. One point the article mentions that I questioned is when it suggests that the text maps out a way that women should seek empowerment. However I wondered about whether having a magical woman as the powerful female figure could be consider accessible and a possibility for the future since magic does not exist. But the writer went on to talk about the how the unrealistic worlds and other supernatural elements can represent possibilities of a society away from feudal rules and the patriarchy. For example, Avalon is a fictional “other” place set outside of the feudal society where both male and female can be happy. The maiden is also not part of the feudal society, she’s an “other”, and therefore has more agency than females who are part of the patriarchal society. The magic may not be a possibility, but a female with agency and the subversion of the patriarchy that it represents is possible. The fairy maiden is considered a “good” female because she values loyalty, harmony, equality and cooperation. Love is the driving force for conquering the patriarchy because it makes both and men and women happy. Guinevere does not value harmony or loyalty and as the queen, represents and relies on the feudal society for power and happiness, which she does not achieve. This article can illuminate my topic especially because it describes the balance between men and women, reveals how escaping the patriarchy benefits both male and female because the feudal society makes neither happy, and explains why supernatural elements are used and can still be considered accessible and a possibility for the future when considering what it represents. Those points support the idea that women can be empowered through Marie's text which would be an interesting topic to explore. 2. Maddox, Peggy. "Ravishing Marie: Eugene Mason's Translation Of Marie De France's Breton Lai Of Lanval." Translation Review 63.(2002): 31-40. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 12 Nov. 2014. This article is by Peggy Maddox, an author of several articles and books. She has Bachelor’s degrees in English from Oklahoma City University and the University of London and the MA and PhD in comparative literature from the University of Arkansas. The article seems to be intended for Medievalist and Feminist audiences. This article, like the Ramke article, discusses the differences in the translations of Lanval, mainly Mason and Chestre’s translation. In this writers argument, she discusses specifically how in Marie’s original text of Lanval, she has the intention of making the fairy more powerful, while making Lanval entirely submissive. She brings up the point that the maiden has full control of the situation because she controls all the terms. Maddox believes that Lanval has no power. I agree with the idea that in her original version Marie does empower the women and makes them more direct about what they want, especially when compared to other translations. I don’t entirely agree with her statement that Marie’s version was supposed to be a story of a man that is dominated by a woman because I don’t agree that Lanval was dominated. He was able to choose whether or not he wanted to be with her and do what he wanted with the wealth he gave her. Although he had to follow her conditions, he wasn’t entirely under her control. This would be a useful article to use for the purpose of examining the areas where the females reveal how powerful in contrast with the translation, and it would be a useful article to look at in order to argue with the idea the Marie intended the story to be about men being dominated by women. 3. Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn. "Strategies of Naming in Marie de France's Lais: At the Crossroads of Gender and Genre." Neophilologus 75.1 (1991): 31-40. Web. 20 Nov. 2014 This article is by Maitilda Tomaryn Bruckner, a professor of French romance languages and literature at Boston College. She has written many books and articles on the subject of French Romances. It would likely be intended for those interested in medieval French romances, gender roles, and medieval study in general. This article focuses on names in Marie de France’s texts. Although it does not mention Lanval directly, it can apply to the story in some ways. Especially since Marie does have common patterns in some of her stories and the nameless characters is one of them. The article talks about names, focusing first on the names of the titles, which are either proper nouns, or “character type,” or refers metaphorically to the lovers. It seems often that characters are named fairly randomly. Sometimes main characters are named while secondary characters are not, and sometimes it goes the other way around. The role of the character is not determined by whether or not they have a name. One of the points that the article makes which really interested me was how the identity of the character in constructed by the male and female relationship, even though they may not both be named. I feel this argument would be very useful when looking at Lanval. Instead of assuming that because the female character is not named that she has no identity and therefore is objectified, it’s possible to argue that being the unnamed character suggests she and Lanval need each other to construct their identity as a union. I may also emphasize the need for males and females in society working together on equal grounds. Argument of an Article The article I want to argue with is William S. Wood’s article titled “Femininity in the “Lais” of Marie de France”. Like many other critics, I believe that a lot of Wood’s arguments are easily disagreeable especially with how much the scholarship on this topic has developed since he wrote it in the 1950s. There are actually several points I want to address. Although I wasn’t able to read the evidence from Marie’s texts, which was all in French, I was still able to make an argument based on his points about them. One of the first arguments Wood’s makes is concerning how exaggeration is a feminine characteristic that Marie de France uses. Although there is a great deal of unrealistic situations in her writing, she is certainly not the only one who does so and many writers around the same time period often did the same. Male characters especially have power that’s inhuman, such as how Beowulf is able to exert strength enough to tear through a body described as being as hard as metal or how much strength a “Berserker” has in “Egil’s Saga” of the Icelandic Sagas. Chrétien likely uses exaggeration when describing the romance between his characters in “Cligis”. Although we don’t know for sure the gender of some of those writers, there are examples of male writers who write fantastical stories just as Marie does and Woods seems to ignore that her stories are not all meant to be completely realistic and mimic real life. Using “exaggerations,” as Woods describes it, seems to be a common characteristic of the period, not just of female writing. Another point I’d like to argue I that detailed descriptions about "cloth, clothing, adornment, furniture, architecture, and, of course, people" (Woods 6). Woods argues that there are rarely moments where any of these descriptions have any plot value, only citing one he believes did. He also specifically cites Lanval as being one of those texts where the description of clothing had no value to the plot. I disagree with this because I think that the clothes reveal key details about the woman. For example, “she has a cast about her a costly mantle of white ermine covered with Alexanderian purple" (France 41) suggests to us that she is wealthy and important, based on the white ermine which is described as costly and the purple color, which often may suggest importance (or royalty). Though Woods does make some interesting arguments, I do believe he failed to see the depth in Marie de France’s work and the importance of the devices she uses. Abstract For this article I want to talk about how Marie de France’s purpose in Lanval is to empower females in order to equalize genders and suggest the subversion of the patriarchal, feudal society. I will talk about the females of the text compared to the males and how Marie manages to equalize the two genders. I will begin by addressing Marie de France her writing purpose and the significance of her being a female medieval writer. I want to spend some time refuting Wood’s argument, discussing how feminist views have grown. Although 12th century “feminism” might have been different, it’s still possible to examine how women in the text are given more agency. I will consider the standard gender roles and stereotypes and reference how they differ in the text, particularly on how the gender roles are reversed, both in the case of Lanval and the fairy maiden and the queen and king. I will explore the two main females and two main males of the text, focusing on their motivations and their portrayal in the text and why it’s significant to have both protagonist and antagonist for each gender. I will discuss how patronage is significant in improving the position of women for the purpose of equalizing the gender. I will also discuss how despite the fact critics believe that Lanval is entirely marginalized and submissive, his position changes through the fairy women and therefore he has more power and control than he did at the beginning. Also, I hope to discuss the significance of the magic and added supernatural elements of the story including the maiden’s unlimited wealth and the mythical place of Avalon. Although the supernatural may appear inaccessible, it may be symbolic of a society where women and men are equal. The society doesn’t yet exist, but is a possibility and the story suggests will benefit both males and females. Marie’s purpose is not to empower only woman and marginalize men but rather to suggest a partnership between the two genders in equal harmony.
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Checkpoint #1
For my assignment I've decided to research "Lanval" by Marie de France. Lanval was among my favorite texts when I took British Literature I my sophomore year. I loved Marie de France's work the most so I thought it would be the appropriate choice. I reread it recently and I still enjoy it so I can't wait to work with it throughout the semester!
Schedule Calendar
My goal is to work on research twice a week for half an hour after class, on Mondays and Wednesday sometime between 12:30-2pm. That doesn't mean I won't be working on it during my free time and the weekend as well, but I want to make sure I get in a minimum of 1 hour a week of searching for resources. During that time one week, hopefully in the next couple of weeks I also want to go to a librarian to help seek sources as well to get that part of the checkpoint complete as well. I will keep a schedule of progress made to motivate myself to continue working on steps.
Checkpoint #2
Progress
9/24: Printed out 4 journal articles and wrote down 6 I want access too that are not available in the library. Will try to get access when meeting with a librarian. Also decided on various topics I'm interested in related to the text, including courtly love, homosexuality,and of course, feminism and the power of females. Plan is to start reading and highlighting articles soon. Can't wait to start planning meetings with the group as well!
9/25: Figured out how to use the ILLiad after over THREE YEARS in college. Use this people. Literally the easiest thing ever. I honestly thought you'd have to wait several days and could only read the article as a hard copy in the library so I never used it. But literally all you have to do if go to the get article page and submit a request to ILLiad once you get an account. Over a dozen to choose from for me rather than the two on MLA Bibliography that were available. Once you send a request you will likely get a digital copy of the article that same day. To look at whenever you want on your account! Group talks with the librarian made a HUGE difference from the class talks. I hate that I didn't know this sooner. Would have saved me hours of searching. I don't even know what to ask the librarian when I visit with the library form because I have 4 articles printed, 2 more I haven't printed yet, and 10 on my ILLiad account now!
10/6: It's been very busy lately so I've been behind in work but I made it my goal to do as much as I can today! Completed the summary, started doing the analysis on quotations from the text, and talked to the research librarian and got the form signed. Looked at some books in the library as well (though I didn't find them to be very useful). Might just focus on journal articles online. Also figured out how to use RefWorks to organize the journals I find if I don't want to print them automatically.
10/7: Worked a little more on the quotes today with the little time I had. I have all the quotes at least selected now which means I'm making progress. By tomorrow between classes I hope to begin working on the annotations for the journal articles.
10/8: Finished all the quotes! Getting closer to completion! 3 article annotations to go!
10/10: I finally went through four journals I printed and highlighted what I was most intrigued by. One of them wasn't as interesting as I expected and really didn't illuminate the topics I am looking at so I abandoned that. But I have three more to do this checkpoint. I haven't annotated them yet, but I already know basically what I want to talk about. I'm actually really glad that I did the quotes before I looked at the articles. Two of the articles really spoke to the first two quotations and answered a lot of questions I had in my analysis, especially considering the power of the fairy, the charge of sodomy/homosexuality, and women as "goods". So I know I choose the right articles! They even challenged my views at some instances and changed my thinking. I also feel I'm slowly deciding what I want the final product of this assignment to be. I've already laid out several subtopics I want to use, though I don't have a clear thesis yet. But it's related to feminism though it may challenge some of the typical viewpoints of the feminist discourse! Oh, and Fitchburg State's internet was down so I had to make this post three times! Using Microsoft Word first from now on!
10/13: Finally got back to working on the assignment and finished my annotations and citations. Big mistake doing this several days after I originally read the articles, but all the highlights and margin annotations did help me reorganize my thinking. Feels nice to be done. Also made a discussion for my online group meeting with the Knights of the Round Table. Hopefully we have the opportunity to discuss our findings during our official online meeting tomorrow!
Completed Work
Text Citation
France, Marie de. Lanval. The Lais of Marie de France. Trans. Glynn S. Burgess and Keith Busby. 2nd ed. London: Penguin Books Ltd., 2003. Print.
Summary
Lanval by Marie de France tells the story of an under-appreciated knight of King Arthur. The knight, named Lanval, although of noble birth and the son of a king, is far from inheriting anything and is somewhat forgotten by the king. He has great qualities and many envy him, and are thus glad he isn't treated well. One day leaving the town he takes a walk into a meadow where he sees two beautiful women. Leaving his horse behind, he follows them to tent where there is a beautiful woman. The woman confessed her love for Lanval. She offers her love, a place to stay, food, clothing, and unlimited amounts of money. When he promises to do whatever she asks, they make love. All he has to do is tell no one about her and their love or he will lose her forever. Lanval becomes generous and starts giving gifts out to many, pardoning prisoners, and helping others in multiple ways. He also visits his lover whenever he pleases. That same year, a group of knights are hanging out in a garden and one of them persuades the others that they need to invite Lanval and they do this. The Queen, Arthur's wife, is present, sees Lanval, and decides to approach him. She tries seducing him but he rejects her. She angrily accuses him of being gay. Lanval responds by insulting her and telling her his love's servants are more beautiful than her in every single way. The queen flees upset and plans to get revenge. The queen complains to the King and tells him of the insult. The King swears that if Lanval cannot defend himself in court, he will be burned and hanged. Lanval is meanwhile devastated because he can no longer call on his beloved because he mentioned her to the queen. When the court date comes, the court decides that if his beloved comes forward and proves his statements were true, he would be acquitted. Otherwise, he would be banished. Lanval is certain she would not show. Much to everyone's surprise, two maidens approach. But Lanval does not know either of them. They request a room be prepared for their lady who is to arrive. At last, his beloved arrives on a white horse and she is more beautiful than anyone in the world. Her beauty is described in detail. Lanval is overjoyed and announces he doesn't care if they kill him now that he is able to see her again. She requests that he be released and he is acquitted. The lady and Lanval ride away to Avalon and are never seen again.
Quotes and Analysis
1. ""I well believe that you do not like this kind of pleasure. I have been told often enough that you have no desire for women. You have well-trained young men and enjoy yourself with them. Base coward, wicked recreant, my lord is extremely unfortunate to have suffered you near him. I think he may have lost his salvation because of it!"" (France 76).
In this quote the queen is addressing Lanval and charging him with being a homosexual because he has rejected her advances. This occurs right before Lanval tells the queen off and reveals that he has a lover. One of the questions that may be asked is what the implications of sexuality are during this time period. It's clear that showing interest in the same sex is something that the Queen believe Lanval should be ashamed of. Although I'm not clear with what it means during this time period and if it's punishable, that is something I wish to look at, possibly in some of the journals that I read. She does mention though that even being near Lanval if he were gay would cause the king to lose his "salvation", meaning he would not be able to redeem himself on judgment day for his sins. This tell us that religion is a factor in the belief that homosexuality is a sin and not only does it "tarnish" the individual, but those around them as well. Which makes this particular accusation harmful because she is questioning Lanval's devotion to God and his religion as well, which gives him more reason to be upset and feel the need to insult her. Lanval's reaction to this comment therefore should come as no surprise and he likely had no choice but to reveal his lover, though it was dangerous for him to do so.
2. "When the girl heard these words from the man who loved her so, she granted him her love and her body. Now Lanval was on the right path! She gave him a boon, that henceforth he could wish for nothing which he would not have, and however generously he gave or spent, she would still find enough for him. Lanval was very well lodged, for the more he spent, the more gold and silver he would have." (France 74-75).
In this quote it appears that Lanval is really being spoiled with love and wealth. There is an obvious magical element which is implied by the fact that the wealth he receives from this lady is unlimited and increasing every time he spends. She is not human. There are two ways that this quote can be read when considering how the lady is viewed compared to the man. She seems to be the one who is calling the shots. She initiates the relationship between them, and gives all the rewards if he returns the love,and she gives him all the conditions and consequences if he fails to abide her requests. He has to follow her rules if he wants to keep her and all that she offers him. However, in this quote her love and her body are granted to him the same way the wealth is also granted to him. Her love and body are pretty much "goods" and "pleasures" that she gives to Lanval. Therefore she appears more like an object rather than an actual being.This quote also discusses the idea of love at first sight. At their first meeting they have already decided that they love each other. It's unclear why the lady chooses Lanval and falls for him so quickly, but he is likely more interested in her wealth and appearance than anything else. We may even wonder if the wealth is possibly all that attracts him.
3. "King, I have loved one of your vassals, Lanval, whom you see there. Because of what he said, he was accused in your court, and I do not wish him to come to any harm. You should know that the queen is wrong, as he never sought her love. As regards the boast he made, if he can be acquitted by me, let your barons release him!" (France 81)
In this quote the woman who is Lanval's beloved, still unnamed, is the one who ends up saving the day. Often in stories about knights or other heroes it's always the male protagonist that saves the damsel in distress. It reminds me of the Prince in Snow White, who is sometimes unnamed, rides in on a horse, and rescues her. In this story, the "knight in shining armor" is female and she saves Lanval mainly using her appearance and one short statement. In this statement she even accuses the queen of being wrong about Lanval and essentially lying. She gets away with this because of her beauty. I wonder if magical beings also have a higher rank than even royalty because they are likely more powerful. It is clear from this quote that the woman forgives Lanval. However, this leaves a lot of questions unanswered to think about. For example, why was their relationship a secret at all? It seemed important that he didn't reveal their relationship because she told him he would never see her again if he did. If it was so important, then why was it forgiven? Also, was Lanval's reveal justified because of the accusations the queen made? These questions always stump me when I read this story and I feel that there's a lot left unsaid!
Annotated Bibliography
1. Finke, Laurie A. "Magical Mistress Tour: Patronage, Intellectual Property, and the Dissemination of Wealth in the "Lais" of Marie De France." Signs 25.2 (2000): 479-503. JSTOR. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
This article was written by Laurie A. Finke, a professor of Kenyon College and a director of Women’s a Gender Studies and Martin B. Shichtman, professor of Eastern Michigan University and a director of Jewish Studies. Laurie A. Finke has a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and her B. A. from Lake Forest College. She has also published seven books. Martin B. Shichtman earned his Ph.D at the University of Iowa and has written many books on the medieval period. Based on the content, the article seems to be directed towards Feminist, Gender, Marxist, and Queer Studies readers, as well as Medievalists. It illuminates the topics of women in “Lanval” heavily because it discusses how the women in the story, particularly the fairy, can be considered to have more power than the man. It critiques beliefs of the feminist discourse when evaluating the objectification of women in the text. Through the idea of patronage, the article discusses how wealth determines power in the society. It also discusses views on sodomy and homosexuality in the text and how knights were often accused of these activities and how a patronage relationship between males (the exchange of gifts) connects to this idea. This article can be used for a variety of focuses and themes for this reason. It deals with a multitude of related topics.
2. Jurasinski, Stefan. "Treason And The Charge Of Sodomy In The Lai De Lanval." Romance Quarterly 54.4 (2007): 290-302. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
This article was written by Stephan Jurasinski, an associate professor at Brockport State University of New York. He graduated with a Ph.D. and M.A. at Indiana University and a B.A. at the University of Maryland. Some of his teaching includes Old and Middle English, Old Icelandic, Old French, Medieval Canon Law, Medieval Secular Law, and Linguistics and Philology. He has also written several books and many articles on these topics . The audience for this piece would be those interested in Queer and Gender studies, Historic Laws, and Medievalists. The article focuses on the laws and ruling of the charge of sodomy, what it means for Lanval, and how it may have been considered treason (the act of sodomy in the medieval society). It also discusses how the queen in the story may have used the accusation to defend herself from a similar charge of treason. It also illuminates the discussion with details on how the proximity of those guilty with others can spread the sin, answering why the Queen believes the King will be punished for Lanval’s sins. This was a believable argument because it looks at medieval laws to explain the actions of the characters and consider the significance of the charge.
3. Woods, William P. "Femininity in the Lais of Marie de France." Studies in Philology 47.1 (1950): 1-19. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 Oct. 2014.
This article is by William S. Woods. The article was written in 1950, so the views can possibly be a little dated for that reason. However, it brings up some interesting points that are still relevant and other points that can be argued. This article would be of interest for those interested in feminism and of course, medieval literature. He talks about all of Marie's writings, not just “Lanval”, though he cites that story directly a few times. He discusses how Marie being a female during this time period impacts the way that she writes. His focus seems to be on how France writes with special attention of details that interest women, such as clothing and beauty, material things, surroundings, and details that are useless to the plot. She also lacks any description of battle. This article can be used to consider the how the writer being a female influences how the work is written and if it can offer meaning to the position of females during the time period. This article can also be used to describe how the feminist discourse has changed over time and how meaning in Marie’s writing can be viewed differently from what the writer of this article had analyzed, especially since the feminist discourse has great changed. I still can find this argument useful because it can be used to compare former evaluations to the text and how visions have changed with the growing feminist literary movements.
Checkpoint #3
Progress
10/20:So it's another day of working on the project and the beginning of a new checkpoint. Today is devoted to choosing the articles and printing them out. Luckily I have all my selected articles on Illaid or RefWorks so I don't have to search so much! Just have to read through some and pick the ones I like! I have cited the three I've chosen, and one of them appears to be a reply/response to another article that I also found! So I can use that as the source I found referenced in another article. On Wednesday I will probably start reading the articles and doing the annotations.
10/30: I'm finding that I hardly have any time to complete homework but I will definitely make an effort for the annotations today! Seems like I'll be spending this weekend finishing up at well! I'm also struggling finding information on some of the writers. I'm wondering if that could mean that they are not credible!
11/3: Struggling through the annotations today. I've been way behind in homework this week! But I will try to finish all the annotations today so I can start what remains as soon as possible! Worked on both the reflection and the query as well!
11/4: Managed to get everything done. Took a lot longer than I expected. Talking to the group later today about the progress. Now if I can only get the formatting right!
Completed Work
Annotations
1. Eccles, Jacqueline. "Feminist Criticism And The Lay Of Lanval: A Reply." Romance Notes 38.3 (1998): 281-285. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
This article is written by Jacqueline Eccles who is affiliated with the University of Liverpool. This article seems to be aimed at feminists, medievalists, those interested in romances, those interested in gender studies, and those who are interested in the feminist discourse who don’t always agree with it. Though fairly short, this article offers many points related to feminist criticisms and looks at both the males and the female of the texts. It starts by challenging the use of modern feminism to 12th century writing and stating that France may not be a feminist writer in the modern sense but that she was well aware of the influence her writing may have. The article also makes the point to look at both males and females in the text. It offers a view that I never considered before, that the story may in fact be sexist in favor of women. The idea that feminism can sometimes be one sided and men can be demonized and weakened is recent and can be a new way to look at the text. The writer of the article however argues against this perspective, stating that though men are weak characters, women are not always viewed positively in the piece, primarily the queen for example. Therefore there is a balance between males and females and the criticism lies of the flaws of the society rather than the sexes. The article recognizes some similar points as other articles I've looked at concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the women, but it also offers a lot more evidence and insight not covered in other articles and therefore would make it very useful in both supporting points of other scholars and offering new points to illuminate the topic further.
2. Kinoshita, Sharon. "'Cherchez La Femme': Feminist Criticism And Marie De France's Lai De Lanval." Romance Notes 34.3 (1994): 263-273. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Sharon Kinoshita is a professor at UC Santa Cruz . She teaches World Literature and Cultural Studies. She has written many books and articles, including on the subject of medieval French literature. The audience that would be interested in this article would likely be those studying feminism, gender studies, and medievalists. This article was cited in in Jacqueline Eccles's article. Eccles made comments on Kinoshita's points and comments on feminist criticism and its role in the text. Particularly she argues with Kinoshita and accuses her of misreading the king's actions. She also cites Eccles's point about women being objects of exchange in the feudal bonds and argues that the text may serve to criticize that feudal system which allows that, which would explain why Lanval's abandonment of the King at the end is significant. However, they both reach the same conclusion that the fairy woman tempts Lanval away from that feudal society that considers women as objects of exchange. In her article she criticizes the views of Woods and his stereotypical views in an article I’ve also looked at, but also acknowledges how literary analysis has vastly changed since the time his article was written. Kinoshita can illuminate the feminist topic in several ways. She talks about how “Lanval” is like an inverted Cinderella story where the fairy woman is the knight in shining armor while the male protagonist, who is the actual knight, plays a more passive and subordinate role in the text. Her views on the escape from the feudal society being an important topic to consider in the writing as mentioned before, is another useful factor that can be considered in a feminist reading.
3.Ramke, Kelly. "Re-Writing Agency: The Masculinization Of Marie De France's Lai De Lanval In Two Middle English 'Translations'." Mediaevalia: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Medieval Studies Worldwide 26.2 (2005): 221-241. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014.
Kelly Ramke holds a master’s degree in French Literature from Tulane University and a Bachelor of Arts in French from The University of the South. One of her main focuses is medieval studies. This article is intended for feminists, those interested in gender studies, and medievalists. Ramke argues that that in a couple of the later translations of the text, both translated by men, Lanval becomes the hero of the text while in Marie’s original work, the fairy woman is the hero. She uses several bits of evidence to prove this point. For example, the translations focus more on the fairy woman’s appearance. There is more emphasis on her nudity as well, which suggests a focus on the male fantasy. The fairy recognizes Lanval’s poverty and seems to be more concerned about improving his position rather than fulfilling her own needs in the translation as well. Also in the translation there is a bigger focus on the gifts, and a lesser focus on the conditions of their relationship, which becomes secondary based on the fact it’s not addressed until after they have made love. Women have more direct speech in the original than the translation. The author believes this determines who the hero is, since the hero should be the one dominating the direct speeches. In the end, the male gaze of the women is more important in the translations because it determines how the women are perceived. She also offers the background of Marie and cites her prologue, where Marie herself says she wants to prove that women can be strong writers as well. This article is useful because it compares the original to male translation, which can highlight how Marie gave strength to her female characters. It can also be used to counter claims of Woods who believed that Marie’s writing was too “womanly” because of her descriptions of the clothing since we see here that the male translators focused even more on clothing and appearance than Marie did herself. Knowing Marie’s views of her own writing is also significant because this tells us her probable intentions in writing Lanval and that she may have sought to increase the agency and position of women through her writing.
Reflection
Based on the research that I have done so far, I am finding several trends in the analysis of “Lanval”. Many writers I‘ve read are concerned with the female characters and their role in the text. Most agree that the fairy woman and even the queen are portrayed in a way that shows that they can have agency over the men, including over the main protagonist of the text (Lanval). There have been a few arguments on the idea that women are the objects of exchange under the feudal society in the text and that it might be one way the women are marginalized. But the evidence that the exit from the feudal society suggests that the purpose of the story may have been to criticize the society that oppresses women. Another focus of these conversations between scholars seems to be on the inverting of gender roles in the text and whether this makes it sexist in the sense that women are favored, the same way men are favored in a patriarchal society. The change in audience is another concern of critics, because modern views of feminism are being used to explain Marie’s purpose in her 12th century text. Scholars are concerned with how views have changed over time and how the text may have different meanings for us today than it did in the 12th century. Although it doesn’t mean that modern interpretations are any less relevant because many do take history, medieval law, and beliefs into account for their analysis. Though the scholars address different moments in the story and offers separate points of evidence from the text and history of the text, most seem to agree that the women in the text are not objectified, actually have powerful positions, and seek to meet their own needs; while the men are feminized and take the role typically applied to females.
Query
The articles I’ve read so far have really changed my views of the text in many ways and there are several questions I seek to answer after reading the different arguments between scholars. I want to know how 12th century readers responded to Marie’s texts because it appears she wanted her writing to make an impact. I also want to know what is the fairy woman’s purpose and intention in the text. I want to know whether her actions were mostly for herself for if her purpose to “save” Lanval because she has a lot to offer to him and she didn’t have to promise him much to win him over. Her beauty and attraction would have probably been enough. Also, he betrayed her wishes and conditions but she still came back for him. I also wonder why she had that condition that no one could know about their love (if it dealt with "courtly love", why were those rules so important to her?). Scholars explore the gender roles and I question why it was necessary for the roles to be reversed, especially since some scholars believe that it wasn’t for the purpose of de-masculinizing men while favoring the women. The role of the Queen is also something to ponder also because although she is powerful, she is considered to be manipulative and cruel and I wonder why Marie de France had a woman as one of the main antagonists in the story and whether it really was to put men and women on equal ground as suggested by many scholars.
Checkpoint #4
Progress
11/12: Found the articles and cited them today. I had a lot of trouble finding articles I liked. There wasn't a lot that I was interested in and wanted to talk about. Some of them spent a lot of time summarizing which was a little annoying! Hopefully the ones I finally decided on will prove to be useful. Mainly concerned with translations. I should read one of the other translations early because I haven't yet! I also haven't chosen what to argue with yet. Maybe Woods, but I feel everyone disagrees with him! I agree with most of the articles I read!
11/20: It was incredibly difficult for me to find any more articles that I was interested it or had anything to do with the topic I wanted to research. I must have read a billion of them and desperately searched Google Scholar and Google searches to access articles I wanted to read but couldn't find for free! I did manage to find the remaining articles and annotate them! I'm not sure I will be able to use either of them in my argument, but it's possible and both were interesting articles. I'm glad I found the one about the names because I was actually wondering recently about why the fairy maiden was never named!
11/21: I finally did the argument and abstract. I decided to use Woods' article to argue with because I had a lot I could say about it. Plus he's probably dead by now and can't counter my argument! Still a little iffy on the abstract and may make changes later but it's what I have so far!
Completed Work
Annotations
1. Whitfield, Pam. "Power Plays: Relationships In Marie De France's Lanval And Eliduc." Medieval Perspectives 14.(1999): 242-254. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
This article is by Pam Whitfield as part of a Master’s Thesis at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The audience this article seems to be intended for is the Feminists and Medievalists. Like previous articles that I have analyzed the writer believes that Marie seeks to empower women in the text and aims to inspire a female audience. She talks about both “Lanval” and “Eliduc”, another work of Marie’s. One highlight I had not considered before was the number of female characters. Usually there are significantly more males in a text and only a limited amount of females but it appears that though the primary characters are limited, they are more or less equal; with Lanval, the maiden, the queen, and King Arthur as the main roles. The balance between male and female is another way this text may appeal to the feminist discourse. One point the article mentions that I questioned is when it suggests that the text maps out a way that women should seek empowerment. However I wondered about whether having a magical woman as the powerful female figure could be consider accessible and a possibility for the future since magic does not exist. But the writer went on to talk about the how the unrealistic worlds and other supernatural elements can represent possibilities of a society away from feudal rules and the patriarchy. For example, Avalon is a fictional “other” place set outside of the feudal society where both male and female can be happy. The maiden is also not part of the feudal society, she’s an “other”, and therefore has more agency than females who are part of the patriarchal society. The magic may not be a possibility, but a female with agency and the subversion of the patriarchy that it represents is possible. The fairy maiden is considered a “good” female because she values loyalty, harmony, equality and cooperation. Love is the driving force for conquering the patriarchy because it makes both and men and women happy. Guinevere does not value harmony or loyalty and as the queen, represents and relies on the feudal society for power and happiness, which she does not achieve. This article can illuminate my topic especially because it describes the balance between men and women, reveals how escaping the patriarchy benefits both male and female because the feudal society makes neither happy, and explains why supernatural elements are used and can still be considered accessible and a possibility for the future when considering what it represents. Those points support the idea that women can be empowered through Marie's text which would be an interesting topic to explore.
2. Maddox, Peggy. "Ravishing Marie: Eugene Mason's Translation Of Marie De France's Breton Lai Of Lanval." Translation Review 63.(2002): 31-40. MLA International Bibliography. Web. 12 Nov. 2014.
This article is by Peggy Maddox, an author of several articles and books. She has Bachelor’s degrees in English from Oklahoma City University and the University of London and the MA and PhD in comparative literature from the University of Arkansas. The article seems to be intended for Medievalist and Feminist audiences. This article, like the Ramke article, discusses the differences in the translations of Lanval, mainly Mason and Chestre’s translation. In this writers argument, she discusses specifically how in Marie’s original text of Lanval, she has the intention of making the fairy more powerful, while making Lanval entirely submissive. She brings up the point that the maiden has full control of the situation because she controls all the terms. Maddox believes that Lanval has no power. I agree with the idea that in her original version Marie does empower the women and makes them more direct about what they want, especially when compared to other translations. I don’t entirely agree with her statement that Marie’s version was supposed to be a story of a man that is dominated by a woman because I don’t agree that Lanval was dominated. He was able to choose whether or not he wanted to be with her and do what he wanted with the wealth he gave her. Although he had to follow her conditions, he wasn’t entirely under her control. This would be a useful article to use for the purpose of examining the areas where the females reveal how powerful in contrast with the translation, and it would be a useful article to look at in order to argue with the idea the Marie intended the story to be about men being dominated by women.
3. Bruckner, Matilda Tomaryn. "Strategies of Naming in Marie de France's Lais: At the Crossroads of Gender and Genre." Neophilologus 75.1 (1991): 31-40. Web. 20 Nov. 2014
This article is by Maitilda Tomaryn Bruckner, a professor of French romance languages and literature at Boston College. She has written many books and articles on the subject of French Romances. It would likely be intended for those interested in medieval French romances, gender roles, and medieval study in general. This article focuses on names in Marie de France’s texts. Although it does not mention Lanval directly, it can apply to the story in some ways. Especially since Marie does have common patterns in some of her stories and the nameless characters is one of them. The article talks about names, focusing first on the names of the titles, which are either proper nouns, or “character type,” or refers metaphorically to the lovers. It seems often that characters are named fairly randomly. Sometimes main characters are named while secondary characters are not, and sometimes it goes the other way around. The role of the character is not determined by whether or not they have a name. One of the points that the article makes which really interested me was how the identity of the character in constructed by the male and female relationship, even though they may not both be named. I feel this argument would be very useful when looking at Lanval. Instead of assuming that because the female character is not named that she has no identity and therefore is objectified, it’s possible to argue that being the unnamed character suggests she and Lanval need each other to construct their identity as a union. I may also emphasize the need for males and females in society working together on equal grounds.
Argument of an Article
The article I want to argue with is William S. Wood’s article titled “Femininity in the “Lais” of Marie de France”. Like many other critics, I believe that a lot of Wood’s arguments are easily disagreeable especially with how much the scholarship on this topic has developed since he wrote it in the 1950s. There are actually several points I want to address. Although I wasn’t able to read the evidence from Marie’s texts, which was all in French, I was still able to make an argument based on his points about them.
One of the first arguments Wood’s makes is concerning how exaggeration is a feminine characteristic that Marie de France uses. Although there is a great deal of unrealistic situations in her writing, she is certainly not the only one who does so and many writers around the same time period often did the same. Male characters especially have power that’s inhuman, such as how Beowulf is able to exert strength enough to tear through a body described as being as hard as metal or how much strength a “Berserker” has in “Egil’s Saga” of the Icelandic Sagas. Chrétien likely uses exaggeration when describing the romance between his characters in “Cligis”. Although we don’t know for sure the gender of some of those writers, there are examples of male writers who write fantastical stories just as Marie does and Woods seems to ignore that her stories are not all meant to be completely realistic and mimic real life. Using “exaggerations,” as Woods describes it, seems to be a common characteristic of the period, not just of female writing.
Another point I’d like to argue I that detailed descriptions about "cloth, clothing, adornment, furniture, architecture, and, of course, people" (Woods 6). Woods argues that there are rarely moments where any of these descriptions have any plot value, only citing one he believes did. He also specifically cites Lanval as being one of those texts where the description of clothing had no value to the plot. I disagree with this because I think that the clothes reveal key details about the woman. For example, “she has a cast about her a costly mantle of white ermine covered with Alexanderian purple" (France 41) suggests to us that she is wealthy and important, based on the white ermine which is described as costly and the purple color, which often may suggest importance (or royalty). Though Woods does make some interesting arguments, I do believe he failed to see the depth in Marie de France’s work and the importance of the devices she uses.
Abstract
For this article I want to talk about how Marie de France’s purpose in Lanval is to empower females in order to equalize genders and suggest the subversion of the patriarchal, feudal society. I will talk about the females of the text compared to the males and how Marie manages to equalize the two genders. I will begin by addressing Marie de France her writing purpose and the significance of her being a female medieval writer. I want to spend some time refuting Wood’s argument, discussing how feminist views have grown. Although 12th century “feminism” might have been different, it’s still possible to examine how women in the text are given more agency. I will consider the standard gender roles and stereotypes and reference how they differ in the text, particularly on how the gender roles are reversed, both in the case of Lanval and the fairy maiden and the queen and king. I will explore the two main females and two main males of the text, focusing on their motivations and their portrayal in the text and why it’s significant to have both protagonist and antagonist for each gender. I will discuss how patronage is significant in improving the position of women for the purpose of equalizing the gender. I will also discuss how despite the fact critics believe that Lanval is entirely marginalized and submissive, his position changes through the fairy women and therefore he has more power and control than he did at the beginning. Also, I hope to discuss the significance of the magic and added supernatural elements of the story including the maiden’s unlimited wealth and the mythical place of Avalon. Although the supernatural may appear inaccessible, it may be symbolic of a society where women and men are equal. The society doesn’t yet exist, but is a possibility and the story suggests will benefit both males and females. Marie’s purpose is not to empower only woman and marginalize men but rather to suggest a partnership between the two genders in equal harmony.